Moving Again!

OK, here's the deal.  After spending two great years in California we moved back to England last January. We felt strongly that England was where we were meant to be this year.  David even turned down a job in Tennessee that would have been a solid, secure alternative.  And I really liked Chattanooga.  But, after thinking and praying hard, it just didn't feel like the right fit for him.  So we took a step in faith and came back to England, in the dead of winter, with no guarantee either of us would find work, and not sure how the move would affect Evie.  We had seen providence working in our lives over the past two years and really felt that this was the right thing to do.

I'll tell you now that that belief has sometimes been the only thing that's kept us going over the past 10 months.  I was lucky enough, after a couple of horrid temp jobs, to find long term temp work at the hospital, but neither of us have been able to find permanent work and we've had to survive on my temp pay, some articles David's written, and the kindness of friends and family.  Fortunately David got a three month fellowship at the Folger and was able to send some of it home to cover expenses here, but it was a really tough summer.

The good news is that while David was in DC this summer he was offered the position of Director of Archives and Statistics at the General Conference (of the Seventh Day Adventist church, for anyone not in the know).  Which means that come early next year we'll be moving back to the States.  And, without having to stretch the imagination much, we've seen providence again.  David was in the right place, at the right time to be able to attend interviews, meet with the right people and make all sorts of arrangements before he left. We had some long talks on the phone while he was there, and then when he got back, about whether this was the right thing for us to do, especially bearing in mind how strongly we felt we needed to be back in England.  We concluded that everything seemed to be coming together to point us in that direction.

God works in strange ways.  Funnily enough, not having a car or any money has meant that since we've been back we've rarely been able to do the things we love to do here in England: eating out, visiting National Trust sites, theatre trips, days out in London, weekends away, etc.  That, combined with the fact that, after living in Angwin, Whitley is shabbier, dirtier, noiser and generally more unpleasant than we remember it from before we left, and that we lost our wonderful neighbours and now have to listen to  the new neighbours screaming at each other and their kids all day , has prevented us from being as attached to life here as we would have been otherwise.

So, the plan at the moment, contingent on his work permit coming through, is for David to go out early in January and for me to follow in March.  They will pay for me to come over for a week to have a look around so I'll go with David in January and do some mad house-hunting.  The I'll come home and tie up the loose ends here, get our house in shape to be rented out, and arrange for the movers to come and take our stuff away.  My Dad's trying to organise things so he can come over for a couple of weeks in February to help out which would be fantastic as he is totally Mr Handyman.  David will fly back over at the end of February to help out with the last minute things, spend time with Evie on her birthday, and then we'll fly away in early March.

We sound so organised don't we? Ha!

More later on what we are hoping for the next few years.

Peek-a-boo

I've got a couple of posts brewing in my head, including one about why we are moving BACK to the States early next year, but in the meantime, here's some cuteness to tide you over until later.

I've always been a little shy.

Yes my child, I've been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

And for those of you who are really missing the 70s.

Check out that awesome 'fro!

What do you mean it's the middle of October?!

It was a weird summer.  Basically I worked, I came home, I occasionally forayed into the town centre to do some shopping, I got out of Reading exactly once per month (and actually I'm not sure about September, it's a blur), I neglected my garden, I really neglected my housekeeping, and I did some knitting.  That was my summer.  It was hot, and then it was wet, it was mostly boring, it was lonely (my other half being in the States for three months) and I felt sorry for myself a lot.  Hence the lack of views from the manor.

However, since 1 October, when the husband returned, it's been all go.  I got aforementioned husband back, lost my job and packed my daughter off to college, all within three days.  I then came down with a vicious cold that laid me out for the whole of my first week off work in eight months.  I'm now working part time in the orthopaedic department at the hospital, aforementioned daughter comes over every few days for food and laundry and husband is off to Geneva for a few days.

So, that's me caught up!

Oh, and we're moving back to the States next year.  But that's a whole separate issue.

Actually it hasn't been all bad.  At the end of July I had a wonderful day out with my knit night friends at Knit Nation in London.  I'd just got a £100 bonus from my doctor in the Renal Department so I blew it all on my day out - yarn, lovely, lovely yarn.  My Wednesday nights at Outcasts in Reading have been my salvation - the nicest bunch of people on the planet, I tell you.

Here are a few pics of Knit Nation, and some of my knitting from the last few months.

The totally awesome Wollmeise stand.

The smaller but equally awesome Renaissance Dyeing who use only natural dyes, including their speciality, woad.  How cool is that?

This was our combined haul from the day.

This was my personal haul from the day.

I was especially chuffed about the green and purple skeins in the middle from Old Maiden Aunt.  The green is called "bitter bug" and the purple is "derelict daughter".  I've wanted that one since I first heard of the name of it!  I'm going to make this shawl with them.


The yarn on the far left is from Wollmeise and I made these socks for David out of it.

He has worn them but I have yet to get a picture of them on his feet.

Here are a few more of my projects from over the summer.

 Tabi socks for the girl child.

A cardigan I did for a finishing class at knit night, which just happens to fit Bear perfectly.

 A scarf for me (modeled by the ever obliging child) made of bamboo.  It's been a steep learning curve this knitting thing.  A few months ago I didn't know you could buy yarn made from bamboo, soy, corn, milk or seaweed - and now I do!

And finally, a hat for the Child (it needs a little stretching out, yes) - my first lace project.

I've also finished the back of my birthday cardigan but I won't post pictures till it's done.

And for those few of you interested in my foray into vegetable gardening, I don't have any pictures but at the end of September I harvested a big bowl full of little potatoes, five fairly motheaten red cabbages, and two enormous courgettes that had hidden away under the leaves and which I could hollow out and use as canoes.  All in all, considering how much I had neglected it in its later stages, my garden did pretty well for me.